occurrenceoc‧cur‧rence /əˈkʌrəns $ əˈkɜː-/ ●○○ AWL noun 
Laughter was a rare occurrence in his classroom. Flooding in the area is a common occurrence.► see thesaurus at event2[singular] the fact of something happeningoccurrence of The frequent occurrence of earthquakes in the area means that the buildings must be specifically designed to withstand the force.
EXAMPLES FROM OTHER DICTIONARIES
- Earthquakes are an unusual occurrence in England but are not totally unknown.
- Vicious fights and arguments were a daily occurrence in the shipyards.
- Different patterns of clinical involvement with genetic transmission or sporadic occurrence are recognised.
- Gingival hyperplasia is a frequent occurrence, especially in children and young adults.
- Indeed, such predictions might be described in terms of the probability with which their occurrence may be estimated.
- It might not be the first occurrence, she realised.
- Nor were such executions isolated occurrences.
- The helium would seep up through fissures, and hence its natural occurrence near the hot springs.
- The key type and format should be assessed, to decide on the occurrence and frequency of runs of keys.
THESAURUS
something that happens, especially something important, interesting, or unusual: · He spoke of the tragic event in which more than 100 people died.· recent political events
formal something that happens – used especially when saying how often something happens: · Divorce is a common occurrence these days.· Storms like this one are fortunately a rare occurrence.· Accidents are almost a daily occurrence on this road.
something that happens, especially something that is unusual or unpleasant, or something that is one of several events: · He died after a violent incident outside a nightclub.· This latest incident could put an end to his career.
an important social event or celebration: · She only wore the dress for special occasions.· It was his 100th birthday, and friends and family gathered to mark the occasion.
[usually singular] something that happens, especially something shocking in political or public life which involves several people and events: · The affair has caused people to lose confidence in their government.
something that happens or exists in society, science, or nature, especially something that is studied because it is difficult to understand: · natural phenomena such as earthquakes· Homelessness is not a new phenomenon.
Longman Language Activatorsomething that happens, that is not planned something that happens, especially something that is important or interesting: · Meeting Professor Kearney was an event which changed my life.· The book discusses the events leading up to the outbreak of World War Two.· The evening meal is a time when all the family can get together and discuss the day's events.chain/sequence of events (=the order in which events happened): · Police are attempting to reconstruct the sequence of events on the night of the killing.the course of events (=the way that events happened): · Nothing we could have done would have changed the course of events.
informal something that happens: · So many things have happened since I last saw you.a funny thing happened: · A funny thing happened to me on the way to work this morning.not remember a thing (=used to emphasize that you do not remember what happened): · When I woke up the next morning, I couldn't remember a thing.
formal something that happens, use this especially to say whether something happens often or not often: a common/daily/frequent etc occurrence: · Vicious fights and arguments were a daily occurrence in the shipyards.· Earthquakes are an unusual occurrence in England but are not totally unknown.
something that happens, especially something that is unusual or unpleasant or something that is part of a longer series of events: · Apart from the incident in Las Vegas our vacation was completely trouble-free.· One violent incident turned into a political and family tragedy.a bomb/shooting/terrorist etc incident (=used especially in news reports): · Friday's shooting incident in East London led to several arrests.without incident (=without anything unpleasant happening): · The fans were well behaved, and the game was played without incident.
something that happens, especially something that is strange or unusual: · The happenings of the last two days had left me feeling dazed.· 'The X Files' is a fictional television programme about strange, unexplained happenings.
plural phenomena a natural or social process that can be seen or is known to happen, and is often studied: · We now know that our system of planets orbiting the sun is not a unique phenomenon.· The cell phone is a relatively recent phenomenon. It's difficult at the moment to assess its effects.phenomenon of: · the increasing phenomenon of the single parent familynatural phenomenon: · A thorough understanding of mathematics is sufficient to explain a wide variety of natural phenomena.
COLLOCATIONS FROM THE ENTRY Laughter was a rare occurrence in his classroom. Flooding in the area is a common occurrence.COLLOCATIONS FROM OTHER ENTRIES
Laughter was a rare occurrence in his classroom. Flooding in the area is a common occurrence.· They should build a new road, but that’s an unlikely scenario.
COLLOCATIONS FROM THE CORPUSADJECTIVE· The visits to the beach became an almost daily occurrence, as Roberts searched for aurochs, oystercatchers, or crane.· Grenade attacks have become an almost daily occurrence.
· Using such cash will eventually become an everyday occurrence for us all.· These next applications deal with everyday occurrences, and neural networks are playing a part in each of them.· What he wishes to do is to establish through everyday occurrences the realization within you of his existence.· Demos to outsiders, if not an everyday occurrence, were not unusual.· It was so long ago that it happened - it's an everyday occurrence now, people battering and killing children.· Sailors needed an everyday heavenly occurrence.· It was an everyday occurrence for the gentry to bed maidservants.· They took near-disaster as an everyday occurrence, which it probably is.
· Because of the frequent occurrence of kept, this causes difficulties in quantitative analysis.· Gingival hyperplasia is a frequent occurrence, especially in children and young adults.· Playground fights at my London comprehensive, an austere archetypal 1960s building near Marble Arch, were frequent occurrences.· Before the established use of surnames a recourse to nicknames was almost necessary and certainly of very frequent occurrence.· However, complex eigenvalues and vectors are of frequent occurrence, and require special consideration.· Worse, a spokesman for the Treasury implies this is a frequent occurrence.
· This is probably a comparatively rare occurrence for small mammals, but it certainly does occur.· A knock on this door, up here on the fifth floor, especially at night, is a rare occurrence.· In practice parents' associations are incredibly supportive and these problems are a rare occurrence.· The Millers said bears in the camp are a rare occurrence.· Clearly, crime is not a rare occurrence, but it is hidden methodically, and this raises problems for research.· This was, of course, an extremely rare occurrence.· Policy analysis needs to be concerned with a flow of interrelated policies, with abrupt changes of direction a comparatively rare occurrence.· You depict rare occurrences - like Westerners paying for foster children to visit their affluent country - as a major problem.
· The skilful dealer represents such rare gains as a regular occurrence.· Stoudamire erupted for 31 points in the kind of performance that has become a regular occurrence against the Rockets.· Children do not appear on memorial brasses until the 1420s, though by the 1450s they were a regular occurrence.· In our postindustrial economy, spontaneous cooperation is a regular occurrence.· Parents and children are acutely vulnerable under circumstances of compulsion and emergency which are regular occurrences in residential admissions.· Lesser Spotted Woodpeckers are of regular occurrence amongst these trees.
· She, with her brother and sister, slept that night with the Grimsdale family, a not unusual occurrence.· It is the same attitude he now carries with him on the sidelines, which can lead to some unusual occurrences.
VERB· Using such cash will eventually become an everyday occurrence for us all.· Stoudamire erupted for 31 points in the kind of performance that has become a regular occurrence against the Rockets.· The visits to the beach became an almost daily occurrence, as Roberts searched for aurochs, oystercatchers, or crane.· Grenade attacks have become an almost daily occurrence.
· It is, therefore, highly unlikely that imitation of adult models can explain their occurrence.· It is not a theory invented to explain particular occurrences in the world.· Such a model would be able to explain the not uncommon occurrence of people with six rather than five fingers.
· With less severe colonic damage, terra fullonica was able to prevent the occurrence of systemic endotoxaemia.· Workers need to understand how quickly human tissue freezes, and the necessary precautions to prevent its occurrence.
WORD FAMILYnounoccurrenceverboccur
1[countable] something that happensfrequent/rare/common occurrence Laughter was a rare occurrence in his classroom. Flooding in the area is a common occurrence.► see thesaurus at event2[singular] the fact of something happeningoccurrence of The frequent occurrence of earthquakes in the area means that the buildings must be specifically designed to withstand the force.